Paula Lane On Songwriting

Resophonic guitar player, vocalist and songwriter Paula Lane lives in Southern California by way of Jacksonville, Florida. She has played with several bands, including This Just In (current),  High Cotton and Misbehavin’ and has done a movie soundtrack. Paula and her husband Dwayne are  generous in holding many music events at their home in Lakewood. [...]

Silent Angel

A friend has asked us to play at a fund-raising event for Rett Syndrome this August in Teton Valley. A little research has revealed that Rett Syndrome is a heart-breaking disease that affects mostly girls. The symptoms only become evident when the baby is between six to eighteen months old. So far, there is no [...]

Stand By Me

Single-track recording. Virtual bands. Long-distance collaboration. Digital recording has opened up a world of possibilities that never existed before, well, digital recording. I’ve used this capability on most of my own recording projects. On my first CD, for example, I recorded several songs in Twain Harte, California, downloaded the WAV files and sent the tracks to [...]

Derek Sivers, Part II

Here is Part 2 of my recent interview with Derek Sivers, founder of CD Baby: Rick: In your experience marketing songs and listening to songs marketed by others, is it better to introduce a new song in the form of a rough recording (where the listener has room to imagine how they might arrange and interpret [...]

Derek Sivers On Songwriting

Derek Sivers founded CD Baby in 1998. Before that, he graduated from the Berklee school of music in 1990 and toured with a circus for ten years as ringleader/musician (1988-1998). Derek quit his last “job” at Warner/Chappell Music Publishing in New York City in 1992 to be a full-time musician. Ten years after he started CD [...]

The Sweet Spot

The craft of songwriting takes place amidst the rhythms and context of the rest of life. A pursuit unique to itself, but holding much in common with all else. In addition to the On Songwriting blog, I also write a social media-related blog called Listen. Engage. Create. This week’s post in that blog is about why [...]

Dan Miller, Part II

Dan Miller is the founder and publisher of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine, a bi-monthly print and online-based periodical (and companion audio CD) dedicated to presenting all aspects of the art of flatpicking the acoustic guitar. The following conversation concludes my interview with Dan that began with the previous post on March 22. Rick: Excellent insights, Dan. [...]

Dan Miller On Songwriting

Dan Miller (right in photo above) is the founder and publisher of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine, a bi-monthly print and online-based periodical (and companion audio CD) dedicated to presenting all aspects of the art of flatpicking the acoustic guitar, as pioneered by such great guitarists as Doc Watson, Clarence White, Norman Blake, [...]

Too Good to Be True?

Have you ever written a song that sounded too good to be true? Not in an ego-centric expression of “C’est moi, what an amazing songwriter am I!” but in the genuine sense of “This song sounds pretty good. It must already exist — I just can’t remember where I originally heard it.” Yet there it is, your [...]

Kathy Kallick, Part II

Kathy Kallick has been leading bands and writing songs since 1975. Over the years, she has grown and evolved into an outstanding composer with over 100 of her original songs recorded and enjoyed by fans and listeners in Northern California, around the country and throughout the world. Rick: With so many songs already written and published, [...]